Basilisk and Docker for Reproducible GN&C Simulation: A Workflow Reference
For GN&C engineers and researchers, this work provides a practical solution for reproducible and portable Basilisk simulation environments, but it is an incremental application of existing containerization technology.
The paper addresses the challenge of configuring the Basilisk astrodynamics simulation framework consistently across different environments by presenting a Docker-based containerization workflow. The workflow is demonstrated through simulation scenarios of increasing complexity, including Monte Carlo analysis.
Basilisk is an open-source astrodynamics simulation framework widely used for spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) research and development. Despite its flexibility and computational capabilities, configuring Basilisk consistently across heterogeneous development environments presents practical challenges due to dependency management, operating system compatibility, and software configuration requirements. This paper presents a Docker-based containerization workflow for Basilisk that encapsulates the complete build environment, dependencies, and simulation infrastructure within a portable container image. The workflow is demonstrated through a progression of simulation scenarios of increasing complexity, from standalone orbital dynamics scripts to BSKSim-based attitude dynamics and control simulations with Monte Carlo analysis. The BSKSim class hierarchy, dynamics model architecture, flight software implementation, and scenario execution patterns are described in detail. The presented workflow provides a self-contained implementation reference for GN&C engineers and researchers seeking reproducible and portable Basilisk simulation environments. This work expands upon a workshop presentation delivered at the 46th Rocky Mountain AAS GN&C Conference, February 2024, available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15008785.